Arizona residents are getting refunds on Theranos tests

Theranos is issuing refund checks to all Arizona residents who used the company’s blood-testing services, thanks to a recent settlement by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

Between 2013 and 2016, Theranos offered testing at several locations throughout the state in a partnership with Walgreens. However, the drug store chain severed ties with Theranos in mid-2016, citing myriad bad test results and an ongoing federal investigation.

Co-founder Elizabeth Holmes was banned from operating in her own labs shortly after.

To save the company, Theranos revealed a new type of box in August of 2016 meant to detect diseases like Zika out in the field, pending FDA approval. But the tabletop “miniLab” also met with scrutiny within the medical industry.

In October of that same year, Theranos laid off a good chunk of its workforce in the state and shut down its Walgreens wellness centers.

In April of this year, the blood analysis startup agreed to pay $4.65 million in refunds for those who tested in the state as part of a settlement covering more than 175,000 Arizonans who paid for the blood tests — many of which were deemed defective.

However, Brnovich wanted to ensure everyone who purchased a test would get back the full amount they paid.

“We were not going to settle with Theranos until we got a full refund for every Arizonan who paid for a blood test,” Brnovich said in a statement. “Our office is proactive and aggressive in protecting Arizona consumers and these refund checks are proof that we are going to go after companies that violate Arizona consumer protection laws.”

While the average refund check is about $61, one Arizona resident paid more than $3,400 for testing. According to Brnovich, every Arizona Theranos customer will receive a full refund of what they spent for the testing, regardless of whether the test was accurate or not.